Star Trek: Discovery - Series Premiere Review

And not just that, but with the arrival of the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery -- the first new TV Trek in over 12 years -- it has evolved, like some kind of alien lifeform being scanned by Mr. Spock. Based on the two-part Discovery premiere, the show has successfully made the jump to the modern mode of serialized storytelling, an approach that was mostly avoided in the previous Trek shows. Not just that, but Star Trek: Discovery is also taking a perhaps more “realistic” approach to its story and characters, grounding them in a way that aligns the series with 2017 Peak TV practices while also adhering -- so far, anyway -- to classic Trek tropes and themes. Oh, and it also looks stunning.

The Walking Dead vet Sonequa Martin-Green stars as Michael Burnham, who serves as First Officer of the USS Shenzhou back in the days before Captain Kirk (Discovery is set some 10 years before The Original Series). In the premiere (the first episode of which, “The Vulcan Hello,” aired on CBS tonight while episode two, “Battle at the Binary Stars,” was released only on streaming), Burnham’s journey from human orphan to unlikely student of Vulcan culture to Starfleet officer is explored via flashbacks, while a mission involving making contact with the long dormant and newly hostile Klingons is covered in the here and now.

Much has been made about how this is the first Star Trek show to not have its main character be the commanding officer of the crew, but really Discovery feels different from traditional Trek beyond just that. While we do meet some of the key crewmembers of the Shenzhou -- Michelle Yeoh’s Captain Philippa Georgiou and Doug Jones’ alien science officer Lt. Saru being the most notable -- these first two episodes also spend a lot of time with the aforementioned flashbacks, which isn’t a typical Trek storytelling device. And we also frequently visit the upstart Klingon leader T'Kuvma (Chris Obi) as he attempts to unify the 24 Houses of the Empire with a dangerous plan of aggression.

In fact, T’Kuvma is one of the best things about these episodes, as we learn that his desire to fight the Federation comes from a wish to maintain the purity of the Klingon way. Assimilation is what he fears most, and he urges his fellows to “remain Klingon” no matter the cost. In a sense it then breaks one’s heart to look forward to future Trek where Worf dutifully wears a Starfleet uniform on the bridge of Picard’s Enterprise. Somewhere, T’Kuvma weeps...

Of course, in grand Star Trek tradition, you can read between the lines here and see that showrunners Aaron Harberts and Gretchen Berg (and perhaps departed co-creator Bryan Fuller) are using T’Kuvma to hold a mirror up to 2017 Earth, our wall-fixated, post-Brexit world where isolationism seems to be winning over globalism. Star Trek isn't Star Trek if it isn’t examining us, and Discovery looks to keep the Gene Roddenberry flame lit in that regard.

Burnham’s history as a human who lived and studied on Vulcan since childhood gives her a unique spin as the series lead, and while I won’t get into spoilers here, certain actions that she takes -- and which are informed by that history -- lend a dark edge to her character that will no doubt have repercussions throughout the first season of Discovery. That said, those same actions are also a bit tough to buy into as a viewer, and considering how important they are, the pilot rushes through them too fast.

If anything, the first two episodes’ biggest weakness is their tendency to stray into clunkiness at times. This is always a danger with pilots, where so much new information has to be conveyed to the viewer, and in particular a show of this nature has to pack not just character and story basics into its opening segments but also build out its world in a way that won’t be off-putting to newcomers to Trek. Perhaps the most egregious example of this clunk factor is the pre-credits sequence (spotted in the show’s trailers) that features Burnham and Georgiou on a desert planet spouting exposition by the page-full before culminating in moment that’s supposed to be inspiring but just plays as silly.

And yet, that sequence -- shot in Jordan -- looks amazing, as does everything else in the show, be it the ships, costumes, sets, props, visual effects or even the new spin on an opening credits sequence. CBS wants Star Trek: Discovery to be must-watch TV, and they’ve certainly put their money where their mouth is. At the same time, fans have worried that none of these visuals line up with the history of the show -- Discovery is basically set at the same time as “The Cage,” the original Trek pilot which starred Jeffrey Hunter. So why do their two worlds look so different? Why does Discovery look more like it’s come from the J.J. Abrams Trek films than the classic continuity? Unfortunately, there’s no way to really answer that beyond the fact that it just wouldn’t be feasible to feature those antiquated “Cage” designs on a modern show that is intended to relaunch the franchise on the small screen. Maybe there will be some retcon explanation offered at some point to appease these fan concerns, but ultimately it’s not fair to criticize Discovery for looking fabulous.

Not that you get much of the Discovery in these episodes of Discovery. No, the first two installments of the show very much feel like a prologue to the bigger series, but also an important one that sets up Burnham’s bigger arc. Martin-Green ably carries much of the load of these episodes, and that means that there are still plenty of characters and presumably series touchstones to explore in future segments. At the same time, the playfully adversarial relationship between Burnham and Saru is already a highlight, while the many twists and turns of the plot firmly establish that Discovery is playing by a different rulebook than its predecessors.

The Verdict

Star Trek: Discovery’s debut is something of a shakedown cruise as the show works to find its rhythm. But it’s also already a strong installment in the Trek pantheon, establishing a more modern approach to telling stories in what at this point is a 51-year-old franchise. With a polished production, a complex plot, and several compelling characters already introduced, Discovery is off to a good start in transforming Trek on TV for a new era.